Snippets of work & life in Trinidad, the UK & the US

Trinidad’s ‘Dangerous Dogs’ act and what it says about us

You know a country by how it treats its most vulnerable: its children, its seniors, its ‘differently abled’, its ‘minorities’, its natural environment – including its animals. Shame on us all, mostly for permitting so many governments and political parties to get it so, so wrong for so, so long. Shame. Shame. Shame.

The Dangerous Dogs Act is a deeply flawed though well intentioned piece of legislation. But owners are revealing themselves: if you can’t find $500 for the infernal licence and overnight are prepared to abandon or kill your dog, you should never have been a dog owner in the first place.

But whose responsibility is it that they’ve been bred to be more aggressive? And I disagree – many, many pitbulls are beloved family pets, companion animals, dogs which help protect owners who are epileptic from hurting themselves during seizures. What they’re doing here in Trinidad in terms of the new legislation is the real travesty and miscarriage of justice. As other “aggressive” or “dangerous” dog breeds are not covered (it’s breed specific legislation), it will not curb the attacks. The bottom line is: selfish, myopic, aggressive people make dangerous dogs.

I’m militantly against punishing innocent animals for human folly and insensitivity. If we cared enough about our animals and our neighbours, there would be no issue.